


Denial Is The New Acceptance

by PadBlack



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Canon Divergence, M/M, Rogue One Spoilers, Sort of happy ending, Stubborn Baze
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8941972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PadBlack/pseuds/PadBlack
Summary: “There is no such thing as the Force, you stupid monk,” Baze growled – not for the first and neither the last time and as always Chirrut grinned gleefully about this outburst of his stubborn friend and chuckled, “And you're calling me a blind man.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Rogue One and fell for this pairing - HARD!
> 
> I'm sorry if I mixed up canon.
> 
> A huge Thank You to Bella for the beta - as always <3

Baze Malbus stood in the shadows of one of the old buildings, observing his surroundings.

 

Suddenly a soft voice behind him spoke, “These are very dark thoughts for such a young mind, friend.”

 

The bounty hunter jumped and pulled one of his hidden daggers instinctively. He turned around in a swift move, ready to attack, and aimed for the throat of the speaker but before he could even touch him a quick flash of pain exploded in his knees. His legs gave in and he collapsed to the ground.

 

Awaiting another attack Baze blinked confused when no such thing happened. Instead the assailant, who turned out to be a slender young man with short dark hair and oddly bright eyes, stretched out a hand to help him up.

 

Baze ignored the offered hand and got up on his own, eyeing his opponent suspiciously.

 

The stranger smiled softly, placing his left hand above his heart and bowing slightly while he was holding onto a wooden stick with his right – the stick that had send him crushing to the ground just seconds ago.

 

“My name is Chirrut Imwe,” the still smiling man introduced himself.

 

In that moment Baze noticed the unfocused eyes and he realised the other one was blind.

 

*//*\\\\*

 

Chirrut Imwe could always feel – what he had learned was called – the Force.

He might even had shown signs of Force sensitivity so the Jedi-order would have taken him as a Padawan but unfortunately he was born blind.

 

Orphaned at the age of seven the monks who were the guardians of the Jedi-temple on Jedha took him in. They cared for him, taught him the ways of the Force, trained him in combat.

 

Chirrut was happy – at least that's what he thought. Then he met Baze Malbus.

 

*//*\\\\*

 

It was Baze who saved Chirrut when the order 66 came to wipe out the entire Jedi order and everyone who was somehow linked to the Force. The clone soldiers nearly destroyed the temple that day.

 

The assassin grabbed the annoying monk – who had the tendency to turn up at his side when he was plotting some fishy plans or spying on potential victims – and dragged him to his ship, telling himself that a guardian of the Jedi-temple could be a useful leverage one day. And if he joined Chirrut in his bunk at night when he was trembling from cold – because space was a very cold place for someone who was born on a warm and dry planet like Jedha – and exhausted from their narrow escape, it was to keep him warm and soothe him. And of course it wasn't because it just felt right to pull the other's body against his chest and hold him close.

 

He wouldn't even admit to himself that he liked the cheeky young man who believed so strongly in an invisible power and was adamant that it was _the Force_ that made them cross paths in the first place.

 

“There is no such thing as the Force, you stupid monk,” Baze growled – not for the first and neither the last time and as always Chirrut grinned gleefully about this outburst of his stubborn friend and chuckled, “And you're calling me a blind man.”

 

*//*\\\\*

 

Baze denied that there was such a thing like friendship between them.

Of course not!

He was a bounty hunter, an assassin, not someone's friend. He just felt a weird kind of pity for the homeless monk, who wouldn't survive alone for long – so, that was the only reason he kept an eye on Chirrut – or maybe he simply failed to get rid of him.

 

It took him years to admit that the other might have saved his sorry arse one or two – more likely ten or twenty – times as well. And when he finally did, the smile on Chirrut's face was dazzling and Baze was relieved the other couldn't see his flushed cheeks. But he had the suspicion that the other just knew, could sense the heat on his face. The monk had been able to read his heart from the moment they'd met.

 

*//*\\\\*

 

One day – many years after they fled from the temple – Chirrut stated in a firm voice, “The Force wants us to return to Jedha.” And Baze, now at peace with the other's judgement and trust in his predictions, set the course without batting an eye.

 

*//*\\\\*

 

They made a perfect team – till the end.

 

 

“Look for the Force and you will always find me.”

 

Baze kept his eyes firmly on his dead companion of so many years. He finally accepted his friend's strong believe in the Force and said the words he never dared to speak out loud before. “I'm one with the Force. The Force is with me.”

 

Then everything around him exploded.

 

*//*\\\\*

 

Baze heard Chirrut's familiar chuckle. When he slowly turned his head and opened his eyes the other man sat at his side and said with a smile, “Welcome home.”

 

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


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